Blue Roses
by Golem XIV
Summary: One-shot. Beast Boy needs advice on how to ask a girl out on a date, and he turns to his half-demon teammate for help. Of course, the sweet green fool manages to shove his foot into his mouth all the way to his knee. Still, what can a heart-broken empath do but try and help him?


**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Teen Titans, but I'm within five degrees of separation from someone that does.

**Blue Roses**

Raven's eyes crept stealthily up over the edge of the thick hardcover she was reading to observe the green shapeshifter sitting on the other end of the couch. His left arm was draped over the backrest and the thumb on his right hand clicked half-heartedly the buttons on the remote, flicking through the channels with a bored expression on his face.

His inattentive stance and the dull look in his eyes would've fooled anyone. Anyone but an empath, of course. She sighed silently and shifted uncomfortably. The anxiety that she felt building up in him the last week or so was getting stronger every day, and it was upsetting her emotional balance and interfering with the main reason why she chose to read here and not in the peaceful, safe privacy of her room.

-=oOo=-

You see, several months ago she detected a subtle change in her own behavior. More and more often she found herself being in close proximity to her green teammate, without even being aware of how or why she drifted nearer. It was a natural, unpremeditated action, like shifting her position to get a better light for her reading.

Mildly curious, she began paying attention to what she was doing and experiencing in order to discover what was causing this alteration of her regular conduct. Using the well-known techniques she was taught long ago in Azarath she monitored and analyzed herself, her environment and the target of her subconscious search. The result was somewhat surprising.

For some reason, Beast Boy's emotional pattern had a soothing and calming effect on her. Whenever he was close by she felt a sense of peace and fulfilment, of having a dark, cold void inside her warmed and illuminated by the glow of his aura. The bright rainbow of his emotions would wrap around her soul, rocking and lulling it gently like a mother cradling a restless child.

His mere presence was enough for her empathy to absorb the warm radiance of his feelings and bring her serenity and tranquility. It's not that she needed or – Azar forbid! – _wanted_ to interact with him. As much as he'd grown and matured over the last few years he still remained the same vexing source of irritation he always was. But why was it happening? What was causing it? There had to be a _reason_ for it all, and she thought hard and meditated long on it with her usual calm stubbornness until she finally understood.

The revelation was quite shocking when it came upon her, but the proof was incontrovertible. Denying it would only cause trouble; she learned that lesson a while ago during the _Wicked Scary_ incident.

No, she couldn't just ignore it or wish it away. It was a fact; she had a crush on Beast Boy. A small, tiny, itsy-bitsy little crush, mind you, but it was there.

The concept of her actually liking someone_ that way_ wasn't really what astonished her. Nature worked in not-so-mysterious ways, after all, and she was barely out of her teens.

No, that wasn't the issue. She would understand crushing on, say, Garth. Now _there_ was a good looking boy, tall and melancholy, just about any girl's dream. Or Richard, the heart-throb of Jump City, with his piercing blue eyes and a body Phidias would love to immortalize in marble. Or even Joey, the caring, loving one.

She could understand having this feeling for _anyone_. Anyone but _Beast Boy_. Anyone but the annoying, insufferable, _impossible_ changeling. Anyone but _Garfield._

But then she paused to think about it, and she had to grudgingly admit to herself it wasn't _that_ far-fetched. Gar certainly wasn't hard on the eyes himself. In these five years they've known each other he had grown from the short, scrawny fourteen-year-old into the broad-shouldered, handsome youth that stood almost a head taller than she did.

She certainly couldn't argue with the feelings and thoughts that burned inside her. Electrified goosebumps spread all over her arms as she fantasized about nipping those absolutely _adorable_ ears of his to see if they were as sensitive as they appeared to be, and waves of delicious heat would rush down her spine when she imagined that fang of his grazing over her pulse. She ached to give in, to let loose and to drown herself in the lush, green depths of his eyes.

She bit her lip and another soundless sigh rose from her chest. There it was, that small but sharp pain that always stabbed into her heart whenever she reminded herself that he wasn't, _couldn't_ be interested in her, not in that way. Oh, she could feel his affection and he never hid that he cared for her. But of course it wasn't anything more than love for a dear friend, someone that lived in the same building for years, someone that shared with him the daily dangers and threats, someone that trusted him with her life.

She pushed it resolutely away from her mind. That was her curse. Nobody could ever love a demon, least of all someone like Gar, who needed – who _deserved_ all those things she'd never be able to offer him, like kindness, and tenderness, and love.

A tiny, sad smile graced her features. There was no escaping what she was, and if anything she'd proven time and again that she had the courage to face it and acknowledge it. She shouldn't have survived her sixteenth birthday, after all. Every day she lived after that was a gift, and she wasn't so frivolous to complain about it. She had tasted what it feels like to be in love, and she was happy with that knowledge. And even if her love was unrequited, she could always allow herself some joy every night before she went to sleep, imagining his arms around her and her head pillowed on his shoulder, listening to the tender lullaby of his breathing and his heartbeat and falling asleep while whispering his name.

Suddenly the feeling of anxiety that had been growing in him these last few days vanished, replaced by a sense of joy and satisfaction. Whatever it was that troubled him, he seemed to have found a solution.

"Yo, Rae?" he grinned at her from his end of the couch. "You're a girl, right?"

-=oOo=-

Gar didn't think he could remember a time when he wasn't in love with Raven, ever since she told him he was 'kinda funny'. At first it was just a crush, a response to her kind gesture, like a stray puppy that followed the first person to pet it affectionately.

As time passed and they learned more about each other his love only grew stronger. He sensed that she had placed an invisible barrier around her, a boundary nobody should cross, a wall that she built not to protect her from the world, but to keep the world safe from her. He knew he shouldn't be crossing that imaginary line, he knew he shouldn't chip at that icy wall, but he couldn't help himself. Seeing her happy, making her smile, that was now his life's purpose and his reason for being.

She always brought up the best and the worst in him. He tried so hard to make her happy that he always tripped over himself, like a tiger cub still learning to walk, his feet too thick and awkward and ungainly and his mind too dazzled by her beauty to work properly. No wonder it irritated and infuriated her instead of making her smile, and no wonder she'd tear him down with a scathing remark. But he never held it against her. Over and under all of her sarcastic put-downs he could feel the calm, quiet but powerful affection and care she nurtured for those she thought of as her family. He still considered being included in that small group as the greatest achievement of his life.

His mind strolled fondly through a bittersweet remembrance of the last five years. Like that time when he and Cyborg were sucked inadvertently into her mind, and when she told him she didn't hate him, and that she considered him a friend. He could recall how his face burned then, and how the most delicate shade of pink he ever saw touched her pale cheeks. It was a sight that will haunt him to the last day of his life.

_You may hate your birthday, but we're all happy that you were born,_ he told her and he meant it. Yeah, so her father was a demon, and for all he knew Lucifer could be her third cousin twice removed, whatever _that_ meant, but she? She was an angel.

And then there was that time when he became so jealous. God, he was so close to kissing her that day! He still owed Chrome Dome for ruining it all, and he'd make him pay soon enough.

Oh, he knew she was way out of his league. She was a haunting beauty, a clear winter's moonlit night, mysterious and even a bit scary. There was simply no way she'd feel the same way about him. He knew he was no more than a fanged, pointy-eared green freak and he'd made his peace with that knowledge, but it took him a while to get over it.

Terra appeared just around that time, and he tried to drown his sorrow by turning to a more achievable goal. What happened after was a painful lesson, and one he learned well.

For a long time he mulled over the consequences and morals of everything that came to pass. Terra was right, things _had_ changed. _He_ had changed.

He now knew what he had to do.

It was all in the challenge, in that drive we all have to push our boundaries and by doing it to expand them; to climb the highest mountain and to dive to the darkest depths of the ocean. To try the impossible, to brave the inconceivable, to defy the insurmountable.

He would take on that challenge. He would reach for the unattainable. He would ask Raven out.

Once he made that decision, it dawned on him that there was no going back. With a seriousness and commitment that surprised even himself, he set out to plan everything. This wasn't just a date with any old girl. He was planning a date with _Raven_. With the most beautiful girl in the world. And the smartest. And most powerful.

No, for her everything had to be _perfect_. Not because he wanted to brag or show off, but because she _deserved_ it. She deserved to smile, to have fun, to enjoy herself. She deserved his best effort and his complete determination.

It took _months_ of studying, planning and setting everything up. A week or so ago he'd finished, and only one tiny little detail remained. He had to _actually_ ask her out.

Now, Garfield commented once that he definitely did have a brain, and he endeavored to live up to that boast. He realized there was a high probability that she would refuse his invitation, and then all his hard work would be for nothing. He had to sweeten the deal, to sweep her off her feet, to make her weak in her knees, to make it impossible, _unthinkable_ for her to say _no_.

He scoured the net for dating advice and came out empty. Don't get him wrong, there was some good stuff there, but not good _enough_. It all dealt with normal girls and normal dates and normal relationships. And as Raven herself noted once, normality was overrated. He needed advice for an _exceptional_ date, for an _extraordinary_ girl, for a… But he shouldn't get ahead of himself.

He discarded the idea of asking his friends. Cyborg would tease him mercilessly for months, not that Gar wasn't prepared to suffer through it if only he was certain ol' Bolt Bucket would give him some good pointers. Starfire? She would probably shriek her joy and would be utterly unable to keep it to herself. And Robin? Ask _Robin_ for dating advice? Are you serious? The guy that for months tried to ignore a gorgeous girl literally throwing herself at him? No, thanks.

He racked his brains trying to find a solution. He thought and reflected and ruminated and deliberated and mulled and brooded about it for more than a week, without success. He spent a day as a turtle, hiding in his shell to block off all sights and sounds and prevent them from distracting him. He hung upside down all night in bat form so that more blood could pool into his brain. But nothing helped.

He was getting desperate, and his anxiety began glowing steadily brighter around the edges of the mental block he placed over his emotions. He realized she could sense it, and she would soon have questions. And he still didn't have the answer.

And then it hit him. Almost _literally_ hit him. He reeled when it burst behind his eyes. The solution was really a stroke of genius, if he said so himself. All the hallmarks were there; it was simple and elegant, and it solved his problem. His excitement boiled over, impossible to contain. He had to act upon this idea, _right now_.

"Yo, Rae?" he grinned at her from his end of the couch. "You're a girl, right?"

-=oOo=-

The only outward sign of the sudden pain that lanced through Raven's insides was a quick blink. Even if she knew he could never return her feelings, even if she had resigned herself that she would only be able to love him secretly and silently from afar, his remark still cut to the bone. The wound he'd slashed in her heart bled poison all over her words before she spat them into his face.

"Your powers of observation are truly astonishing, Beast Boy!" Small, sharp crystals of dry ice glittered in her voice. "You have discovered my best kept secret!"

She clamped her jaw shut against the flood of enraged utterances and acid remarks that were building up like bile in her throat, fighting the urge to release them and let them burn and sting and _hurt him_. She slapped her book closed, rose from the couch and headed for the door. She needed to get back to her room. She needed to meditate, _badly_. Either that, or break down and bawl her eyes and her heart out.

Beast Boy watched her in confusion. His brain was, as usual, leisurely plodding behind his sprinting mouth. But it caught up eventually, and his eyes widened when the meaning of his own words slammed into him. He sprang up from the couch and ran after her.

"Raven!" he cried desperately. "Wait, that's not what I meant!"

In a couple of long, quick bounds he reached her and grabbed her arm. "Rae, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way, please believe me!" his words tumbled one over the other. "I mean, I _know_ you're a girl, _of course_ you're a girl, only a blind man couldn't see that you're a girl!"

Raven jerked her arm away from his grasp, but his stammered apologies and the contrite emotions blazing in his aura mollified her enough to turn and face him with brows knotted in a scowl and arms folded across her chest.

"Is that so?" she growled. Her voice was still icy, but at least it wasn't threatening to leave Garfield's ears frostbitten any more.

"Yeah, I mean I'm sorry, it's more than obvious you're a girl, y'know," he babbled, his mind now aware of the danger and speeding up its pursuit of that traitorous mouth of his. "Like, look at you, who in his right mind could think anything else? I mean, you have b–"

His mind finally caught up and tackled his mouth shut so fast it almost bit Gar's tongue off, right before it could utter the _b-word_. The mouth wanted to speak about them, to wax lyrical about how wonderful they were, how deliciously shaped and perfectly sized, how that tight leotard of hers did nothing to conceal those oh-so-appealing attributes, much to his hidden delight. But his mind wrestled it to the ground and forced it to _stay closed,_ wiping off figurative sweat from its figurative brow with a figurative hand. He was able to save himself just in time from a horrible, painful death.

_Now look here, mouth!_ Gar's brain snarled at his least cooperative organ. _You drove us into some deep, deep shit, and on top of that you almost got us killed a few moments ago. Now, if you value our continuing good health, you'll say only what I tell you, when I tell you and how I tell you. Got that?_

"I-I mean, you have l–" the mouth stammered, still fighting the reins Gar's brain was trying to put on it. If only it could, Beast Boy's brain would slap his mouth over its head to return it to its senses, but since that was for obvious reasons an impossibility, it did the next best thing and bit down hard on his own tongue. This brought the rebellious mouth finally to heel, and Gar was at last able to use it without risking life and soul.

"– _long hair,_" he managed to save himself from using the _l-word_. It wasn't as bad as the _b-word_, but in the current context it could be misinterpreted. It was a lame switch, to be sure, but he hoped it would at least buy him some time to _think_.

Raven snorted. "I wasn't aware that one's gender was defined by the length of one's hair," she harrumphed disdainfully. "Besides, if you _haven't noticed,_ my hair is quite short, and I intend to keep it that way!"

Garfield took a deep breath and his hands grasped her shoulders, feeling her stiffen right away. _Wrong move, Gar!_ he scolded himself. _You know she doesn't like to be touched._

"Raven, I'm sorry!" he spoke earnestly, forcing himself not to remove his hands from her. He needed her undivided attention, and he wasn't about to let her leave, not until he at least tried to justify himself. "I didn't mean it that way. I wanted… I needed to…" he gazed into the deep amethyst beauty of her eyes and felt his breath catch.

"Explain yourself, then!" she grumbled, her anger melting away as she returned his gaze. How could she stay cross with him? Those little boy's eyes of his, so innocent and guileless yet so full of passion and wisdom hidden in their green depths… Azar help her, they will be her undoing.

He felt her shoulders relax and his grip on them slackened. "I… wanted to ask you something that only a girl could answer properly, and that's why I began like that," he shook his head as if to drive the unpleasant memory away. "I'm really sorry it turned out that way. I swear, I didn't want it to sound like it did."

Raven was painfully aware of his strong but gentle hands on her shoulders. She fought off a shiver, knowing he would feel it. For just a moment, just a split second, just an infinitesimally short fraction of the blink of an eye she had the certainty that his hands would slip down to her waist and pull her closer, and that his head would tilt and come nearer, and that his lips would –

She wrenched herself back to the real world and cleared her throat. "Wh-what did you want to ask?"

One of his hands released her to scratch the back of his head. "I, um, wanted to ask for your help. There's, uh, this girl, you see…"

Raven felt her magic slither and coil inside her, raising a threatening head like a cobra, ready to lash out and destroy. "Girl?" she whispered, not trusting her voice not to crack.

He nodded, oblivious to the fact that his words were putting the planet in danger of being split asunder. "Yeah, I want to ask her out, like, real bad, y'know, 'cause she means a lot to me…"

Raven massaged her temples, focusing fully on controlling herself. "What does that have to do with me?" she strained through teeth clenched so hard she was sure her gums were bleeding.

"Yeah, well, I was hoping you could tell me how you think I should go about it, y'know," he smirked. After that inauspicious start, it looked like his plan still had a chance of working. "Like, what would be the best way for a guy to ask _you_ out?"

"I… I'm not really the best person to answer that, Beast Boy!" she managed to say without too much stammering. "You… you're better off talking to Starfire about such things."

"Nah," he chased away her suggestion with an airy wave and a grin. "You know how Star is. She'll probably tell me to challenge her to single combat, or whatever's the Tamaranean idea of going out on a date!"

Raven's fingers pressed harder into her temples. "I don't see how you expect me to help you," her voice grated. "It's not like anyone has ever asked me out on a date."

Garfield was barely able to hide a wince. The bitterness in her otherwise cool, composed tone of voice choked him for a moment. _Well, I'm working to change that, Rae. You deserve it. _"Yeah, I know," he said aloud. "But if someone _did,_ what would be the best way to do it? What should I – I mean, what should a guy do so you simply _couldn't_ say 'no'?"

"I don't _know, _Garfield!" she snarled at him, unable to keep pretending any longer. She just couldn't handle it any more. "Flowers, I guess! They're a classic, and I suppose there's a reason!" A black portal opened under her feet and she sank into it, ending their conversation.

"Flowers, huh?" Garfield rubbed his chin in thought, then grinned. "If it's flowers you want, it's flowers you'll get!"

-=oOo=-

Raven portaled to her room, her enormous reserves of willpower and self-control all but drained fighting off the overwhelming need to crumble, fall on her bed and cry herself to oblivion. Her mind sought in frantic desperation for any word, any idea, any concept that could ease her pain and close the gaping black iciness that now yawned where her heart used to be.

"He will be happy…" she finally admitted to herself, and it calmed her enough to be able to focus and meditate.

-=oOo=-

The next few days Garfield could barely be seen. He would show up only to eat, and then he'd either disappear into his room or fly away to the city. It caused a few raised eyebrows, but if anything Gar was even sunnier and more energetic than usual. Raven knew the reason for his happiness, though, and every grin or innocently flirting wink the shapeshifter would send her way burned like a freezing blade plunging into her vitals.

As the days passed, she embraced the bitter comfort of seeing him so happy. It made it bearable. Only just so, maybe, but it helped.

That day she had the Tower to herself. Cyborg was on a date with Sarah, Robin and Star also went out and Gar was again nowhere to be seen since that morning. She both welcomed and cursed the solitude. It soothed the raw wounds in her heart and helped her reach calm and peacefulness. But she couldn't help yearning for his presence. Without him around she felt empty, incomplete... _lonely_. What was _wrong_ with her? She was lonely all her life, for Azar's sakes!

She groaned. Try as she might, she couldn't get that cold, dry, barren hollow in her soul to stop hurting and bleeding, drop by drop, tear by tear. Only his presence could close that wound, and only while he was there.

_There you go, Raven. The loneliness you always desired. Have your fill of it,_ she commented sarcastically to herself, then sighed and tried to get back to her book.

The well-known pattern of his emotions filled her with joy even before he entered the unusually quiet Common room. Her head lifted and looked expectantly at the door while she composed herself and commanded the blush she felt heating her cheeks to go away.

The door opened and he sauntered in, carrying… _something_ that he quickly hid behind his back the moment he noticed her looking at him from the couch.

"Uh, hey Rae," he smiled sheepishly, as if she caught him with the proverbial hand in the cookie jar. "Whassup? Where's everyone?"

"Vic's on a date with Sarah, and Richard on another with Kory," she droned in her monotone before allowing a small smirk to appear on her face. "Not that you'll get Dick to confess it's a date." Her eyebrow went up. "And you are hiding something."

"Uh, no, I'm…" his hand rubbed the back of his neck, as it always did when he was uncomfortable. The other hand still kept the mystery package behind his back. "It's nothing, I was…"

She shrugged. "Beast Boy, you know me well enough. If you don't want to tell me, I won't pry."

"Yeah, I know, it's just that…" he muttered defensively and stepped closer to the couch. His smile became joyful again. "So we're all alone in the Tower?" he inquired, a brilliant hue of excitement igniting in his soul.

Both of Raven's eyebrows were now up. "Yes, we are," she grumbled. "What does that have to do with –"

"Well, in that case…" he interrupted her and produced what he was hiding behind his back with a flourish and a huge grin. "Ta-dah!"

Raven's hand went to her mouth and she gasped. It was a bouquet of roses.

_Blue_ roses.

The most beautiful flowers she ever saw in her life.

He must've seen the astonishment on her face, because his grin widened enormously and his fang poked out, gleaming playfully. "You like them?"

"I - I… They're… They're _beautiful_," she barely managed to croak out. His grin became even wider, as impossible as it appeared to be.

"They weren't easy to find, y'know," his grin turned into a big smirk. Raven just nodded, her mind still a bit dazed. "I bet they weren't cheap, either!" she mumbled.

He waved a hand dismissively. "They weren't, but that's just money. I had some saved. The difficult part was finding them."

She looked up into his eyes and saw them sparkle. "I was looking for something like this for _weeks,_" he chuckled. "Lemme tell ya, I really had to work hard on it. But she deserves it."

A bucket of liquid nitrogen was emptied down Raven's back. "She?"

"Yeah, blue's her favorite color, y'know?" a lopsided grin flashed on his face before it faded into an expression of earnest seriousness and his eyes darkened and deepened. He took a step towards her. "Raven, I –"

The Crime Alert blared. They both jumped, startled, before the years of conditioning and practice kicked in. Raven glided quickly over to the console, seeking more information while Beast Boy left the bouquet on the couch and trotted over to peer over her shoulder.

"Ternion," Raven grumbled. "Someone had the bright idea of keeping Cinderblock, Overload and Plasmus together. They merged, escaped from prison and now they – _it_ – is on a rampage downtown!"

Beast Boy's hand reached for his communicator. "I'll get the others," he began, but a small, pale hand covered his own, stopping him.

"No need," Raven said softly. "They're probably enjoying themselves. Let's not ruin their fun. Besides…"

"Besides what?" Beast Boy glanced curiously at her.

Raven gave him a tiny smirk. "I won't mind the exercise," she chuckled ominously and cracked her knuckles.

-=oOo=-

_What a woman!_ Beast Boy couldn't get the thought out of his mind as they flew back to the Tower.

He _knew_ she was badass. He _knew_ she usually kept herself in check. But it never ceased to amaze him when she pulled out the stops and unleashed her real power.

Ternion never had a chance. In less than two minutes all three villains were separated, powerless and unconscious. She rolled her shoulders, as if to relax the muscles after a not-too-demanding training session, and walked over to lift his slack jaw closed with a smug finger

He stole a quick glance at her as she easily matched the speed and grace of his falcon form. It was the same awe he felt when he witnessed her beating the living daylights out of Demon-Slade a few years back. His heart swelled and soared with love and pride, just as it did then. _What a woman_.

-=oOo=-

They landed on the roof of the Tower and walked in silence to the Common room. His mind still fully occupied processing the recent events, Gar made a beeline for the couch and jumped over the backrest to land with some force on the cushions.

"_OW!_" he cried in pain and surprise and shot up, rubbing his butt. Raven looked sharply his way. "What happened?"

"Oh, no!" he ignored her as he turned around to find the source of the painful stinging in his behind. "No, no, _no, NO!_"

"Beast Boy, what's going…" her voice trailed off as she saw the broken remains of the bouquet and the expression of horror and rage at himself that was carved deeply into Garfield's face.

His hand slapped hard against his forehead and his claws dug viciously into his scalp. "Dear God, how could I be so _stupid?_" he screamed at the ceiling.

Raven lifted her hand to try to bring him some comfort. He shied away from her, his eyes wide and savage. "_Don't touch me!_" he shouted in rage. "I'm _hopeless!_"

"Gar…" she tried to step closer, but he retreated from her, his disgust with himself etched as clearly on his face as it was flowing darkly from his soul. The power of his self-loathing burned like acid bile in her throat and she swallowed, trying to keep the contents of her stomach down.

His eyes darted around like those of a trapped animal. "I need to be alone," he growled in despair, turned and ran to lock himself in his room.

-=oOo=-

Raven knelt beside the mangled remains of the roses. Her hand went up to touch a bent petal, tracing down the delicate stem and the sharp thorns, now twisted and broken.

If she closed her eyes and focused, she could feel the pain coming from the flowers. It was strange and alien; completely different from the pain created by nerves, but it was still _pain_.

And pain she could heal.

She sighed deeply. This was going to be difficult, and it was going to _hurt_. But she never doubted. She only hesitated for a brief moment to clear her mind and steel herself for what was coming.

"You better treat him right, whoever you are, or you'll be answering to _me!_" she whispered a fierce warning to her unknown competitor before her hands started glowing with healing magic and she bent over the crushed and mauled remains of the bouquet.

-=oOo=-

Exhausted and drained, she dragged herself over to his room, cradling the recovered bouquet in her arms. "Beast Boy?" she knocked gently on his door, without receiving any answer. She knocked louder. "Beast Boy!"

She tried again. "Beast Boy, I've fixed the flowers!" she grumbled at the silent door. "Open up!"

Nothing. She pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. Figures. Who else but Beast Boy could make her wish so fervently both to kiss him and to _strangle _him?

"_Garfield!_" she growled impatiently. "Healing these flowers wasn't easy! After all I had to go through, the least you could do is _take them!_"

The door swished finally open. Garfield stood there with a blank expression on his face. He glanced without any interest at the bouquet in her arms

"Thanks, Rae," he spoke in a slow, soft voice. "You needn't have troubled yourself." His eyes slowly went up to meet her own and she stifled a gasp. They were empty, lifeless, as blank as glass beads. "It doesn't change anything."

"But – but the flowers… the girl!" Raven bit her lip, then forced herself to continue. "Didn't you want to ask her out? How are you going to do it without flowers?"

"I'm not," he replied flatly. A spark of a feeling shone in his eyes, but she realized to her horror it was that same self-loathing that burned in them so morbidly a few minutes ago. "For what? I'd just screw it up, like I screw up everything else."

"Gar, please don't say that –"

"_It's true!_" he snarled at her. "I'm a stupid, useless _idiot!_ I ruin everything I touch!"

He waved his hand at her in a languid, tired dismissal, spun on his heel and walked back into his room. "Keep the flowers," he grumbled as he dropped on the lower bunk and curled up with his back to her. She stood frozen, the bitter, acrid taste of his rampant despair making her Ill.

"It was an accident, Gar!" she tried. "You can't go around punishing yourself over something you couldn't possibly predict!"

He curled up tighter. "Go away!" he muttered.

She stepped closer and sat on the bunk beside him. "Gar…"

He squirmed away from her until he ran into the wall. Her hand went for his shoulder and pulled, making him turn to face her. He lifted his arm to cover a tear-stained face. "Please, Rae…" his voice was a broken whisper. "Go away. Leave me. Please."

"Oh, no, Garfield Mark Logan!" she snapped, her patience exhausted. "_I'm_ not going anywhere! _You_ are going to take these Trigon-cursed flowers, and you're going to go after that girl, and you're going to ask her out!"

She pushed the bouquet to his chest, forcing him to take it. His arm descended from his eyes and he looked at her in disbelief.

"Rae…"

"No!" she shouted at him, her tiredness and her frustration making her legendary short temper snap like a twig. "You lost the right to call me that! And you're not getting it back until you pull your head out of your butt and start acting like yourself again!"

Anger flashed in his eyes. "And what _do_ you know about me?" he propped himself on an elbow and glared at her while his voice also rose to a shout. "Maybe I _am_ acting like myself! Maybe I _am_ a failure, an idiot, a _freak!_"

Raven suddenly saw red. The demon in her roared into enraged wakefulness. _No one_ spoke like that of _her Garfield_. _No one_. Not even Garfield himself.

"_Because that's not you!_" she yelled at him, balling her fists. "The Garfield I know is selfless and brave! How many horrors have I seen you face and overcome? How many times have you risked your own life for me, or for the others? Who was always the one that kept hope alive, even when everything seemed to be lost? _That_ is the Garfield I know! _That_ is the Garfield I love!"

His eyes widened and stared incredulously at her. She breathed heavily, mumbling her mantra to try and calm down.

"Rae? Did you just say..."

"Did I just say _what?_" she barked, still busy forcing her rage down.

"You said 'the Garfield I…'" his voice trailed off, as if he himself couldn't believe what he just heard.

Raven's eyes flew open and a deep blush glowed on her face. She stood up from the bunk and pulled the hood over her head. "Whatever," she muttered and headed out with hurried steps.

Gar sprang up and lunged after her, gripping her shoulders and turning her around. "You said 'the Garfield I love', didn't you?" his voice was low and trembling with impossible hope. "Raven, does that mean that you…"

"It… it doesn't matter," she whispered, looking at the floor. "You already have that girl that you like, and I… It doesn't matter," she repeated and choked a sob.

He remained silent and immobile for a few endless moments, then his hand cupped her cheek gently. "You didn't get it, did you?" he asked her quietly.

She tried to ask him what he meant, but she couldn't force a single word through her throat. He didn't speak or move; he just watched her with infinite tenderness in his eyes. The warmth of his hand on her cheek burned her.

And then she understood.

Her eyes widened and she gasped. Her mouth worked helplessly. A hoarse whisper was all she could muster.

"All... all the… wonderful things... you said about her… they were about me?"

"They were, Rae."

A loud bang proclaimed the demise of the light fixture on the ceiling. They didn't notice. Her arm jerked in a barely controlled spasm towards the roses. "You went… through all that… for me?"

"I'd go through much worse for you, you know that."

The window rattled ominously. His night table broke into splinters with a loud series of cracks. The closet doors burst open and clothing flew out. They ignored it.

"B-but that means you – you –"

"I love you, Rae."

The rattle of the window rose in pitch first into a hum and then into a keen before it shattered into a myriad glittering fragments. The steel framework of his bunk beds bent and twisted until it snapped with a loud _pang_. The upper bunk dropped askew on the lower. They didn't care.

Gar pulled his hand away from her cheek, smiled and turned to pick up the bouquet. He presented it to her with a playful smile on his face.

"So, Rae… Would you like to go out with me?"

Her hands trembled as she took the flowers. She brought them to her face and inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with their sweet scent. It calmed a little the hammering of her heart and cleared her mind of the ecstatic daze. When she looked back up at him, her eyes shone with a dangerously mischievous glow.

"No."

It was Gar's turn to gape like a fish out of water. "N-no?" he gurgled.

Raven smothered a giggle at his expression and made her face fall into the familiar blankness.

"No, and I'll give you three reasons why," her voice recovered again its indifferent, monotonous, lecture-like tone. "First, it's a pointless, unnecessary ritual, invoked so a couple can get to know each other better before they commit to a relationship." A smirk curled one end of her lips up. "We've known each other for more than five years, Gar. I can't think of anything I could learn about you in one evening that I didn't already know."

Garfield frowned and opened his mouth to reply, but she hushed him with a finger to his lips. "Second, this is my payback. Just so you can feel a tiny bit of the heartbreak and suffering you made me go through."

"_What?_" he choked, aghast. "Rae, I'm sorry! I didn't know, I swear, I'd never –"

"Hush," she silenced him with a finger to his lips again. "I know. Let me finish. The third reason… it's the most important one."

Gar gulped. "And, uh, what would that be?"

She moved closer. He could feel the heat of her body. Her eyes glowed as they stared into his own. Her hand rose to rest on his chest and her nails scraped gently over his uniform. "I'm half-_demon,_ Gar. That means dating me comes fraught with certain… _dangers_. Take all of this as fair warning and think carefully about what you're getting yourself into."

Her nails dug through the uniform and bit deeply into the skin of his chest. Pain flared, exquisitely pleasurable. Her voice descended into a low, throaty murmur. "There are also some… _perks _included, if you think you can handle it."

Garfield's eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth at her. "I've got fangs and claws," he growled softly but dangerously. "Think _you_ can handle _them?_"

"Hmmm," she purred. "Is that a challenge?"

A short, wicked snarl exploded silently from his throat. "Rrrrr. It's a promise."

Crimson fire flashed for an instant in her eyes. "I'll hold you to it," she whispered, cupped his face and pulled him into a scorching kiss.


End file.
